Category: Development

August 31 – The fashion for establishing club partners outside national domestic markets is catching on at all levels. French top tier women’s team Girondins de Bordeaux has signed a partnership Olney Girls 99 based in Washington, Maryland, forming Girondins de Bordeaux USA.

January 10 – Tomorrow the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) opens their annual conference in Los Angeles, the largest soccer convention in the world and the largest coaching convention of any sport worldwide. More than 20,000 participants are expected to attend, an increasing number of them international visitors.

December 7 – Mexico’s Liga MX is to start an 18-team women’s league in 2017. President Enrique Bonilla (pictured) said the league will begin with a cup competition in the spring before the formal season begins in September.

August 2 – The fast expanding United Soccer League (USL), part of the professional tier of US football below the MLS, will play a longer season in 2017. The league that starts matches at the end of March will now run for 30 weeks with teams playing 32 games.

July 5 – The US Soccer Federation has officially announced a new 25-club Girls’ Development Academy that will start matches in the Autumn of 2017. The academy structure is “an initiative designed to accelerate the development of world-class female players” in the World Champion nation.

June 15 – Big tournaments generate big money – from marketing and broadcast rights fees, tickets and merchandising. And for the host country there is a measurable economic impact for its cities as well as the enhanced profile for the country as a destination.

June 1 – The newly launched Elite National Premier League (ENPL) will complement the newly activated USSF Development Academy (DA) programme and league, not detract from it, says Kevin Payne, CEO of US Club Soccer, one of the founding organisations of the new national league alongside the Elite Clubs National League (ENCL).

May 30 – The Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) and US Club Soccer have combined to launch a new national competition platform for boys that will challenge the national US Academy competition that the US Soccer Federation has been promoting to clubs across the country.

February 24 – In a welcome break from news on reform and political manouevring issues, CONCACAF has announced that it is using the quarter finals of its club showcase championship, the Scotiabank Champions League, “to promote social well-being through soccer”.

January 15 – The first official Futsal coaching badge in north America has been announced at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) conference in Baltimore this week. The NSCAA Diploma for futsal will be created with the co-operation of U.S. Futsal.

By Ben NicholsonNovember 12 – In response to a pending lawsuit regarding concussion protection amongst youth ‘soccer’ players, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has changed its practices so as to improve concussion awareness and education, and ban heading altogether for U10s.